Where Will Crafstman Tools Land?

[Mechanical Noise]

I don't see how continuing the hand tool warranty would work out well for a new owner. The warranty, as it exists now, requires a large volume of sales to support it. How can the potential liability of the billions of warrantable hand tools be covered when sales will certainly be greatly diminished?

Dropping the hand tool warranty opens up a different can of worms. Many Craftsman owners WILL feel cheated, that's just the way alot of people are. The promotional benefits of the existing warranty will turn into a liability against the new owner.

I can imagine a future still with Craftsman lawnmowers, flashlights, shoes and other stuff. But hand tools seem iffy to me.

I'm pretty sure the zombified Craftsman brand will be slapped on low end stuff for years to come, just as "RCA" and "Magnavox" are still around.

I don't think there's a strong reason for an existing retailer to buy exclusive rights to the Craftsman name. The brand's new owner could easily go independent and sell the stuff in hardware stores, grocery stores and gas stations.

 

[yamaha0343]

These threads have had some pretty good discussions here on GJ. But, sometimes as I read this stuff, I gotta think that we're the wrong people to be debating this.

We for the most part are all enthusiasts that own tools from the likes of Snap-On, Wright, SK, Williams, Cornwell, Matco, etc (and yes we have you HF crazies too haha). even though so most of us started out back in the day with USA Craftsman. Unfortunately, I think we all need to accept that we're not Craftsman's target market. They have some things for us of course, but they focus on Joe the homeowner. And more importantly Joe's wife looking for Christmas gifts.

I guess what I'm getting at is I think we're totally out of touch when it comes to Craftsman's current image and marketability. To the enthusiast, a good deal of their offerings are sub-par. But for the weekend warriors, they are still extremely popular. Sears not so much, but the Craftsman name carries a ton of weight outside of the enthusiast and professional markets. They don't compete with the high end tool brands, or even Harbor Freight really. They compete with Husky and Kobalt.

 

[jeeper46]

Wherever the name lands, it won't be like it was. That's why I haunt a used-tool store around the corner from me, and scarf up all the old USA Craftsman stuff I can.

 

[jd_1138]

but the Craftsman name carries a ton of weight outside of the enthusiast and professional markets. They don't compete with the high end tool brands, or even Harbor Freight really. They compete with Husky and Kobalt.

Bingo. We once went over to my wife's co-worker's house for a BBQ. I was out in their garage with her husband, and we were drinking his crummy Old Milwaukee beer.

I made a comment: "you have great tools and a nice assortment of equipment, too". He replied: "Yep, I got the Mac Daddy gold standard, here, all Craftsman!".

I mentioned I have SK, Proto, Williams. He said he had never heard of any of those brands. He probably would've recognized Snap-On.

 

[dms1]

Harbor Freight should buy that brand

 

[Chief919]

I can see Wal-Mart buying the name as a marketing thing.

Since there are not manufacturing assets owned by Sears, whoever buys it will only be buying the name and intellectual property. Wal-Mart could snap that it, put out a huge promotion about how Wal-Mart is going to "quality" goods and now sells Craftsman as a pitch to improve their image among people who still think the name means something.

A huge ad campaign to push how Wal-Mart is now home to the most well recognized brand of tools and how they are "upping the game" for their tools.

Meanwhile they are slowly slapping that name on lower and lower quality items, as Wal-Mart always does when they gain control of a brand.

And warranty exchanges won't be a big deal to them. They will give you a "functional equivalent" Chinese made unit that costs a few cents, and bank that it was worth that expense to get you in the door where a high percentage of people there to exchange will probably buy something too. In the world of marketing/advertising expenses it is a low cost to get someone in the door.

 

[four.cycle]

"Yep, I got the Mac Daddy gold standard, here, all Craftsman!".

^ The voice of middle America.

I've said this here several times before:
"Perception is reality to the retail customer."


As long as the Craftsman name is held in high regard and maintains its brand recognition, it's a viable (and valuable) brand name in and of itself, regardless of where the tool is actually manufactured.
Bottom line: it doesn't matter that the tool is made in China (or Taiwan or Timbuktu) as long as the retail buyer gets that "gold standard" Craftsman name.

We've had this discussion in various forms over and over. Home Depot and Lowes already are heavily invested in their own "house brands" (Husky and Kobalt, respectively.)
Walmart is whoring out Stanley-Proto, although that's no guarantee they wouldn't switch product lines in the blink of an eye if they thought it would net them a higher margin.
Ace (of all the major hardware chains in the US) is really the only retailer that has enough retail outlets to take on such a huge product line; the regional "Menards" and others simply don't have enough geographic range.

The larger question, of course, is who has enough liquid capital to cash out Eddie Lampert?

 

[BonzoHansen]

I think you guys hold husky in too high regard. I dont think it will, but if home depot picked it up to take on kobalt i would not be shocked.

 

[four.cycle]

^ Husky still retains its brand recognition because of its history under the New Britain banner, Home Depot outsourcing it from China notwithstanding.
Another case of "perception is reality".

Couple other examples to demonstrate the truth of that statement:

Armor-All
WD-40
Pontiac